Growth of high-quality Bi(2)Sr(2) CaCu(2)O(8+δ) whiskers and electrical properties of resulting exfoliated flakes

In this work, we demonstrate a simple technique to grow high-quality whiskers of Bi(2) Sr(2) CaCu(2) O(8+δ) – a high T(c) superconductor. Structural analysis shows the single-crystalline nature of the grown whiskers. To probe electrical properties, we exfoliate these whiskers into thin flakes (~50 nm thick) using the scotch-tape technique and develop a process to realize good electrical contacts. We observe a superconducting critical temperature, T(c), of 86 K. We map the evolution of the critical current as a function of temperature. With 2-D materials emerging as an exciting platform to study low-dimensional physics, our work paves the way for future studies on two-dimensional high-T(c) superconductivity.